


remember last year when you told me (to always stay here and never leave me)

by bvtterfliez



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/F, Yueki Week 2020, my precious moon wlw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:00:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27528823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bvtterfliez/pseuds/bvtterfliez
Summary: Suki is the princess of Kyoshi island. Yue is the leader of the Sedna warriors. Everything is different, but somehow still the same.After all, Yue us the moon, and Suki is the stars.
Relationships: Suki/Yue (Avatar)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 24
Collections: Yueki Week 2020





	remember last year when you told me (to always stay here and never leave me)

Suki lives on an island. And on an island, it’s important to know your stars.

The stars guide ships from the harbor to wherever you choose to go. They’re a map on the sky. With them you can go anywhere.

So Suki knows all there is to know about the stars. But she’s admittedly uneducated on the moon.

That’s what she thinks as their ship nears closer and closer to the North Pole, the temperature getting increasingly chilly. She shivers even in her fur coat and gives a glare to Governor Oyaji.  “Y-you couldn’t have warned me it’d be this c-cold?” she accused him.

He scowled, pulling his own coat tighter. “It’s the N-north Pole! I thought you’d f-figure it out  _ yourself _ ,” he hissed back. 

Suki glared and rubbed her palms together in an attempt to create warmth. When she was told she’d be heading with the Kyoshi Warriors for a diplomatic meeting with their Northern Water Tribe match, the Warriors of Sedna, she hadn’t been told it was FREEZING there. Though, she admitted to herself as she attempted to bury her face in the collar of her coat, she should have expected it.

As they drew nearer and nearer to the icy gates of the North Pole, Suki’s mind drifted to the Warriors of Sedna- particularly their leader, Yue.

Yue was famed for challenging the patriarchal society of her tribe and starting a women’s revolution. The Warriors of Sedna consisted of women she had trained in combat secretly- named after the Water Tribe gddess of the moon because they had trained at night, away from the prying eyes from the men of her tribe. It was only recently that it was officially, and begrudgingly, recognized by Chief Arnook of the Water Tribe; and she knew the Warriors of Sedna still had work to do in regards to women’s rights. But even on an island literally named after a powerful female avatar, Suki still found men who thought of women as lesser, and she admired Yue’s courage.

And okay, maybe she also admired the portrait of her she received. 

Suki flushed not just from the cold at the memory of her expression upon seeing that portrait. Her shocked face had drawn teasing from Governor Oyaji and pretty much all the warriors. Whatever. At least she wasn’t going to have to freeze her ass of doing fancy fan fighting rituals to impress a misogynist.

A pair of waterbenders opened up the gates and Suki stared at them in wonder. The gates were, to put it crudely, heavy as fuck. It must have taken skill to open them with waterbending.  They stepped off the boat and walked along the path of an icy canal. Suki gawked at the structures of ice all around them. “To think all of this was just a bunch of water before,” she whispered in awe.

“I’m happy to see you’re impressed, Princess Suki.”

Suki jumped as she caught sight of the diplomatic party. At the forefront Chief Arnook stood, a tall and proud looking man with black hair and blue eyes. He smiled at her, and either the Northern Water Tribe has a higher opinion of outsiders than she’d thought or he was a damn good actor, because it seemed genuine. Governor Oyaji clasped Arnook’s arm as per traditional Water Tribe custom. Suki did the same. “It is an honour to make your acquaintance, Chief Arnook.” Oyaji said.

“The same can be said by me, of you,” Chief Arnook replied politely. Then he gestured behind him. “Of course, these are the Warriors of Sedna.” 

The girls waved from where they were. All strong, of course, all beautiful, and each of them carried a waterskin or a bone weapon. But…

“Excuse me,” Suki said, using the most princessy voice she could manage. “It is truly an honour to meet your warriors. But, ah, where is the leader? Yue?”

A shadow passed over Chief Arnook’s face at that before he cleared his throat. “She is-”

“Training more women and girls.” The voice came from a stuffy old man Suki hadn’t noticed before, with a face like a sour lemon, hair white from age and a whip thin moustache. He scowled even deeper. “Unfortunately,” he muttered bitterly. 

Arnook frowned and the girls immediately stiffened. “Pakku,” the chief warned in a low tone. 

“My apologies, Chief,” Pakku replied coolly. “I simply don’t understand why we should continue with the pretense that anybody here that’s  _ sane  _ is happy with this breach of tradition.”

One of the girls, a very tall one with thick dark brown hair scowled even more fiercely than Master Pakku. “Just because you’re a misogynist doesn’t mean everyone else has to be,” she snapped.

Master Pakku’s nostrils flared. “The women of the Northern Water Tribe were perfectly happy-”

“Because they never thought they’d have another choice!” a shorter girl with black hair shot back. “They’ve never known freedom, so they’ve never longed for it. And even now that they have even a  _ smidgen  _ of it, you want to take us back to the way things were!”

The girls murmured in agreement and some reached for their waterskins. Despite his haughty sneer, Pakku looked fearful. 

Suki could see a fight brewing between the two and stepped between the two parties. “I think we should save this discussion for later, perhaps when Yue is here,” she said firmly. 

Governor Oyaji nodded, relieved- clearly he hadn't been sure what to do. “Yes, yes. After all, we haven’t even gotten a tour of the Northern Water Tribe!” 

Chief Arnook nodded. “Of course.” He gave both Pakku and the girls a warning look before moving forward, clearly expecting Suki and the rest to follow them. 

As they moved along with the Northern Water Tribe party, one of the Kyoshi Warriors, Huisak, nudged her. “Sorry you didn’t get to see your girlfriend,” she whispered, smirking. 

Suki felt her face flame. “She is NOT my girlfriend,” she hissed. “We’ve never even met!"

“Yeah, but I bet when you do you’ll fall in love with her,” Horpecha chipped in with a smirk. Suki sighed and put her head in her hands. Huisak and Horpecha were eleven and thirteen respectively- old enough to wield fans like shields and knives and to knock a man unconscious, but apparently not old enough to be mature about pretty girls who were famed to have taken out a squadron of soldiers with one waterskin. 

Chief Arnook led them around Agna Qel’a, pointing out different landmarks and objects. He was just showing them what must have been a very beautiful whale bone necklace- at least, until a dagger of ice just barely missed Oyaji’s moustache and shattered it. 

The Kyoshi Warriors immediately lifted their fans and stood in a defensive stance, circling around Suki and Oyaji. Pakku and the Warriors of Sedna drew their water kins. However when they looked, they only saw a skinny young boy with chestnut hair in a wolftail that was quickly slipping out of place. He looked terrified. Master Pakku looked puzzled. “What could he be-” His expression became one of distaste very quickly.  _ “Oh.” _

Suki followed his gaze and caught her breath. Because there,  _ right there… _

Was Yue. In the flesh.

Her black hair was spread out behind her like the sun itself and her brown eyes shone with determination. She had propelled herself into the air using a whirlpool of water and was firing dagger after dagger after the boy and  _ wow, what a badass. _

Horpecha noticed and nudged her. “Told you you’d fall in love with her,” she whispered.

“Yue,” Chief Arnook snapped. “ _ What is the meaning of this?” _

Suki winced at his tone, but if it had affected Yue, it didn’t show. She turned the water into a crest of ice and slid down onto the canal. “Nanurjuk said he could outbend me in his sleep,” she said in a soft, melodious voice that somehow carried the weight of Agni Qel’a’s icy gates. “I simply wanted to see if he was right.”

Suki was weak in the knees. Oh,  _ spirits.  _

Chief Arnook didn’t appear to be having such a positive reaction. Glowering, he said, “And you decided to carry out this experiment  _ in front of our guests from Kyoshi Island? _ ”

Yue seemed to realise they were there for the first time. She raised both her eyebrows in shock. “I- I don’t understand. Pakku told me-” She cut herself off, and scowled. “Master Pakku told me that the meeting had been rescheduled. I hadn’t seen my warriors all day so none of them could inform me of his…  _ mistake. _ ”

It was clear what had happened, but Pakku didn’t even have the grace to look ashamed. Smirking, he said, “I apologize, Yue. I must have been misinformed.”

“Yes,” Chief Arnook said stiffly, looking neither Pakku nor Yue in the eye. “He must have been.”

Pakku’s stupid smirk only spread wider, while Yue looked shocked and almost hurt before schooling her face back into a neutral expression and then a smile. “Well,” she said. “I suppose since I’m here, we should continue the tour.” 

“No,” Chief Arnook said coldly. “The tour is over. We should be heading to the palace for the Kyoshi Warriors’ presentation.”

Yue’s smile didn’t fade. “Of course,” she answered politely. Chief Arnook nodded curtly and marched quickly in what was presumably the direction of the palace. Pakku spared Yue one sneer before following. 

The taller Warrior of Sedna gave Yue a worried glance. “Yue, are you-”

Yue nodded. “I’m fine, Amka. Let’s go.”

Still looking hesitant, the Warriors of Sedna moved forward in pace with the Kyoshi Warriors. Governor Oyaji cleared his throat, shot a worried glance at Suki, and moved forward to catch up with Chief Arnook and Yue.

That left Suki and Yue at the end of the procession. Yue smiled kindly and took her hand. Suki wished the barriers of the gloves would fall away and she could feel her palm. “You’re princess Suki?” she said. 

Suki nodded numbly. “And you’re, uh, Yue. Leader of the Warriors of Sedna.” 

Yue nodded. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Suki,” she said. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Yue had heard stories about Earth Kingdom princesses. Some good, some bad. She’d heard stories of princesses who could lift mountains, and of princesses who couldn’t lift a pinkie to defend themselves- by choice rather than the mandates of their traditions. She’d heard of princesses who’d saved their kingdoms and princesses who’d brought them to ruin. 

This was her first time meeting a princess who was a Suki. 

And she kind of liked it.

The princess’s face was flushed as they walked along the canal, a fair distance away from the rest. “So,” she said, clearing her throat. “Um. You’re a, uh, waterbender right?”

Yue laughed. “Yes,” she smiled, “Yes I am.”

“Right! Right, yeah, I saw you waterbending… so…”

Yue giggled. “Not a lot of waterbenders on Kyoshi Island then?” she asked.

Suki flushed. “Um, no. Earthbenders, mostly… you know… from the Earth Kingdom and all… not to say there can’t be! But, well-”

“I get it,” Yue chuckled. “How are you liking the Northern Water Tribe so far?”

“It’s beautiful,” Suki said, and Yue could tell it was sincere. “But, some of the people…” She scrunched up her face and stuck her finger over her lip. Yue knew who she was referring to even without her saying in a comically condescending voice, “I must have been misinformed.”

Yue snorted. It wasn’t very ladylike, but Suki didn’t seem to care. “That’s Master Pakku for you,” she said. “Stuck up.”

“And  _ conniving _ ,” Suki scowled. “He clearly set you up to embarrass yourself!” Then she seemed to catch her words and flushed again. “I mean, not that you embarrassed yourself! You were fine, I thought you were pretty cool actually-”

“It’s okay,” Yue interrupted. “Besides,” she added, her tone bitter despite her attempts to keep her sadness out of her voice. “It’s not like Chief Arnook will do anything about it.”

Suki frowned. “Does Pakku do stuff like this a lot?”

Yue laughed again, though this time she could hear that there was very little humour in it. “All the time. Tells me about meetings late, lies to me about rescheduling, makes sure I’m the last to know everything, does whatever he can to embarass me.”

“And Chief Arnook does nothing?” Suki said incredulously.

“No. Why should he?” Yue pulled her coat closer to her, not from the cold but from frustration. “I’m a woman. And his loyalty to the patriarchy far outweighs his sense of decency.”

Suki’s expression was sad. “I’m sorry, Yue.”

Yue swallowed, and then lifted her chin. “Don’t be,” she said, not looking at her. “At least it’s me being humiliated, and not my warriors. A little embarrassment is worth the women of this tribe one day getting the equality they deserve.”

Suki was quiet for a moment. Then, “I think you deserve better than that.”

Yue turned to look at her just briefly before turning away again, finding the earnest affection in Suki’s brown eyes almost taunting. “I think we should take the long way to the palace.”

* * *

There was mostly silence between them after that. True to her word, Yue took the long way, and now they were sitting in a canal being pushed by waterbenders, though they didn’t seem very happy to be doing it, from Suki’s perspective. One of them looked slyly at Yue to see if she was paying attention, then made a move to flick their wrist at her. Suki scowled and yelled, “Hey!” 

The waterbender, a short boy with braided black hair and wide brown eyes, jumped, seeming startled. “I- yeah?”

“Last time I checked, Yue was certified a master. Isn’t pouring water on your masters a little disrespectful?”

For a moment the boy just looked startled, then scowled. “Whatever,” he muttered, and continued pushing the boat along. Suki nodded curtly and returned to staring at the bottom of the boat. 

Yue spoke again, for the first time since their walk. “You know, now he’ll just use this as proof that any woman who wants equality must be a cold hearted bitch.”

Suki startled, first at Yue’s voice and then at the use of the word bitch, before responding. “Well, who cares if we are?”

“Them,” Yue answered coolly. “If we’re mean to them, then  _ obviously  _ we don’t deserve rights. Never mind the amount of times I man has ever been rude to  _ me _ .”

Suki winced. She _ had _ met a lot of men who thought that way. “Oh. Yeah, they… do that.”

Yue sighed, a wry smile on her face. “Yes, oh.” Then she leaned back against the canal, making it rock slightly. “Tell me, what’s it like on Kyoshi Island.”

Hesitantly, Suki leaned back in a similar fashion and said. “Well, warmer than here, obviously.” Yue snorted, and Suki smiled. “We’ve got a whole bunch of villages, with a band of warriors for each one. People sell jewelry there, make art… kind of like here, actually. But less-”

“Cold,” Yue laughed. 

Suki nodded, laughing as well. “And icy. And snowy.”

Yue grinned. “Maybe I’ll go there someday,” she said. “If the Northern Water Tribe decides women can travel.”

“You’ll have to,” Suki said. “One of our painters has been dying to do a portrait of you since he saw the one we got.”

Yue flushed. “Oh, no,” she said, giggling bashfully. “Surely not.”

“Why wouldn’t he?” Suki asked. “You’re beautiful.”

Yue blinked. “I-” She flushed again. “Oh.” 

Silence.

Suki felt her cheeks burn. She shouldn’t have said that. Why did she say that? 

Then, she suddenly felt Yue’s hand in hers, this time absent of a glove. She glanced up at her, suddenly much closer than she was before. “You’re beautiful too,” she said quietly. 

For a moment they just stared at each other, and then Suki felt herself begin to unconsciously lean in, and Yue do the same. Closer… closer…

_ Splash. _

Suki glanced up in fury. It was the boy from earlier, and apparently he’d taken the opportunity of Yue and Suki’s…  _ that  _ to complete his little prank. He grinned and then took off running. “Hey!” Suki yelled. “Get back here you little-”

Suki cut herself off at Yue’s enraged expression and watched transfixed as she drew a sphere of water and pushed it towards him, freezing it just as it hit the floor and making him slip and fall. “Ow,” he moaned. 

Suki and Yue just stared for a moment. Then, they both burst out laughing. 

“He is-” Yue spluttered, “so annoying. He keeps hitting on my students, I’ve wanted to do this for  _ weeks _ .”

Suki grinned. “I’m glad you did.” 

The canal slowed in front of the palace, and Suki and Yue, hand in hand, ascended the steps. Chief Arnook and Master Pakku had already arrived, and Master Pakku huffed when he saw them. “Yue,” he spat. “You are late-”

“I asked her to show me the long way,” Suki interrupted. “And judging by the fact that Governor Oyaji is currently sleeping, I don’t think we’ve missed much.” 

Chief Arnook turned to glance at Oyaji, who was, sure enough, sleeping. He cleared his throat, and when that had no effect, elbowed him. Oyaji leapt awake. “Did I miss it?” he called. “The- the performance-”

“You didn’t miss anything, and neither did we,” Yue said reassuringly. She sat down calmly, and patted the seat next to her, smiling at Suki. Suki took her seat, warmth blooming in her chest. 

As the first set of performers- a group of waterbending boys with wolftails and warrior attire- clambered onto the stage, Yue took Suki’s hand again. “Suki?” she whispered in her soft, melodious voice. 

Suki felt her heart thud. “Yes?”

“Maybe when I’m allowed to travel…” Yue bit her lip. “We could go somewhere together.”

Suki’s heart felt like it was going to thud out of her chest.

“Yeah. I’d like that.”

**Author's Note:**

> And that's a wrap! If you want to participate in yueki week on twitter, go and check it out, it's super fun! (and speaking OF twitter, you can find me at @negroes4mako hehehe)


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